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The ultrafast laser performance of Yb:Sr3Y2(BO3)4 (SYB) crystal has been demonstrated for the first time to the best of our knowledge. The Yb:SYB laser was driven to work in SESAM-assisted Kerr-lens mode-locking (KLM) operation, and 58 fs pulses were generated at the central wavelength of 1054.6 nm. A maximum average output power reached 400 mW with a slope efficiency of 13.5%. The experimental results indicated Yb:SYB crystal as a promising candidate for achieving ultrashort lasers.

A diode-pumped passively mode-locked Yb3+:Gd3Al0.5Ga4.5O12 (Yb:GAGG) laser has been investigated by using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) for the first time. Pulses with duration of 1.6 ps were produced at the central wavelength of 1027.8 nm. At the absorbed pump power of 8.4 W, the maximum average output power of 1.02 W was obtained with the repetition rate of 45 MHz. The corresponding single pulse energy and the peak power were calculated to be 22.7 nJ and 14.2 kW, respectively.

High-quality graphene oxide saturable absorber (SA) is successfully fabricated with 1–2 layer graphene oxide. By employing this SA, we have demonstrated femtosecond pulse generation from a graphene oxide passively mode locked bulk laser for the first time to our best knowledge. With two Gires–Tournois interferometer mirrors for dispersion compensation, pulses as short as 493 fs with an average power of 500 mW are obtained at the central wavelength of 1035.5 nm. These results presented here indicate the great potential of GO for generating femtosecond mode-locked pulses in the bulk laser.

An efficient acousto-optic Q-switched Yb-doped Gd3AlxGa5−xO12 (GAGG) (x = 0.5) laser is demonstrated. Under the absorbed pump power of 7.4 W, the maximum average output power of 1.4 W is obtained at the pulse repletion rate of 1 kHz , with the slope efficiency as high as 32%. The pulse width of 40 ns is achieved with the pulse energy and peak power of 1.4 mJ and 35 kW, respectively. What’ more, the output spectrum shows itself tri-wavelength in either CW or Q-switching mode. To our knowledge, this is the first time for realizing simultaneous tri-wavelength Yb:GAGG laser actively Q-switched operation.

The diode-end-pumped passively Q-switched and Q-switched mode-locked Yb:Ca2.85Ta1.80Ga3.10O12 (CTGG) lasers with V3+:YAG as the saturable absorber have been demonstrated. In the Q-switched regime, an average output power of 1.6 W was obtained under the absorbed pump power of 8.6 W. The shortest pulse width was 36.8 ns with a pulse repetition rate of 30 kHz, corresponding to a single pulse energy of 53 μJ and a peak power of 1.44 kW, respectively. Moreover, smooth shifts observed in output wavelength from 1034.4 to 1039.3 nm with the increased absorbed pump power were attributed to the thermal effects. For the Q-switched mode-locking operation, the average output power of 638 mW was obtained with a pulse repetition rate of 38 MHz.